


Starlight and Stone

by Galenfea



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Canon Rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:22:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27119491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galenfea/pseuds/Galenfea
Summary: An alternative version of Kili and Tauriel's conversation in the dungeon.
Relationships: Kíli (Tolkien)/Tauriel (Hobbit Movies)
Kudos: 2





	Starlight and Stone

The youngest dwarf was somewhat separated from the others, and when Tauriel passed his cell she looked in curiously. He was sitting on the bench, fiddling with a small, carved stone. As her shadow fell across his hands, he startled and looked up, quickly tucking it inside his shirt.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” he said quickly. “None of your business anyway.”

“I had heard that dwarves loved stone, but I hadn’t expected one to hold a stone close to his heart unless it had some meaning to him,” she said with a small smile, really curious now.

He scowled, looking at the floor and folding his arms. “It’s a talisman,” he muttered at last. “It was a gift from my mother.”

“Your mother?” asked Tauriel, her voice gentling in sympathy.

The young dwarf nodded. “It was so I’d remember my promise to come back.” He spoke roughly, and his voice caught on the last word. He turned his face away from the light.

Tauriel bit her lip and sat down on the step next to the door. “My king isn’t unreasonable,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll see her again soon.”

The dwarf snorted. “If your king weren’t unreasonable, he’d let us go now.” Still, he came and sat on the bench near the door so they could see each other. For a long moment they looked hard at one another, the sounds of celebration drifting down between them from the palace overhead, then he sighed and looked away. “I don’t mind, but… she does. She worries. I don’t suppose you’d know about that.”

Tauriel nodded, looking at her hands. “I never knew my mother; she died when I was a child,” she said. “But my foster-mother used to be beside herself whenever I went out on patrol.”

“Oh… I’m sorry, I had no idea.”

Tauriel shook her head and forced a smile at him. “I’m telling the truth, though: I’m sure your mother will see you again before long. Just as soon as your leader and my king can come to some agreement.”

The dwarf laughed. “If it relies on my king bending his neck, Mother will be grey long before I go home!” He looked away again, the laughter turning bitter.

“What’s your name?” asked Tauriel.

“Kili. Yours?”

“Tauriel.”

He smiled a little and poked a hand between the bars. “It’s a pleasure.”

She nodded and shook it.

“I… never thanked you. I’d lost my sword and those spiders would have made short work of me if you hadn’t come.”

Tauriel nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t give you a dagger. I’m sure you understand, though.”

“Yes… I might not have given you one if our positions were reversed.” After a moment, he added, “I would now. You’re not as I expected Wood-elves to be.”

Tauriel nodded. “I had always heard that dwarves were treacherous and greedy. I’d never actually spoken to one before.”

“What do you think of us now?” he asked with a small grin.

She smiled at him. “That at least some dwarves love their kin.”

He smiled sadly back. Again, they heard laughter and music.

“That sounds like quite a party,” he said, looking up.

“The Feast of Starlight. I should go; I’m expected.” She got up slowly, brushing off her tunic.

“Starlight? That’s a strange thing to celebrate.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You do know little of elves; all light is sacred to us, but we Silvan elves especially love the light of the stars, little though we see it in these dark times. Even our feasts must be held in the caves now. It can never be the same.” A note of bitterness entered her voice as she said, “This darkness has driven us from so much we love!”

“I know how that feels,” said Kili heavily. “I’m a dwarf of Erebor, but I’ve spent my whole life in exile in the west.” He took out his talisman again and looked at it. “Mother brought this with her when she fled; she always called it her piece of home.”

Tauriel looked at him again in pity, searching for something to say. Eventually, she said quietly, “And so you hold it to your heart in memory of what was.”

He nodded. “Just like you, singing songs to stars you can’t see.”

For a moment longer they looked at each other, then they clasped hands again and she turned to walk away.

As she went, she couldn’t help looking back. Kili was sitting by the door, once again turning his stone over in his fingers, and as she gazed at him he looked up and smiled.


End file.
